New Teams
by MosukeHinata
Summary: What would happen if the teams for the Konoha nine were different? Will Sasuke want to leave the village if Hinata was there? Will Sakura, Chouji, and Shino be able to work together? Will Ino and Shikamaru work well with Kiba? Read to find out. SasuHina.
1. Lunch by the River

**NOTE: I came up with this at random…there might be something like this somewhere else on here, but I DID NOT copy, if you had read one. Sorry, to say, if you HAVE written something like this, I HAVE NOT read any.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto.**

"Team seven: Naruto Uzumaki, Sasuke Uchiha…" Sasuke and Naruto glare at each other past Sakura. "…and Hinata Hyuuga." Naruto looks up at Iruka-sensei in confusion, 'WHO!'

Sasuke looks out of the side of his eye to where the aforementioned Hyuuga is looking down at the table both trying to hide her blush and to avoid eye contact with any and all of Sasuke's fan girls. 'Hn, a Hyuuga?' is his only thought.

He glances behind him when he hears Ino and Sakura groaning to each other about not being able to be on his team. "Team eight: Shino Aburame, Chouji Akamichi, and Sakura Haruno," Iruka announces to even further Sakura's pain. The look on her face is PRICELESS; Sasuke would have paid ANYTHING to have that on camera, but alas, he would seem like he—you know—LIKED her, and that is something he does NOT want people to be thinking. He absolutely despised the people who falsely assume things about him; things such as, _his whole clan was killed, we MUST give him pity_ and _he doesn't like any girls, so he MUST be gay._

Naruto slams his head on his desk, obviously believing that his life is over. Iruka glares at Naruto for the sudden noise, but continues with revealing the teams, "Team ten: Shikamaru Nara, Kiba Inuzuka, and Ino Yamanaka. Now, that's all of the teams, meet back here to greet your new senseis after the lunch break—"

"WAIT!" Naruto interrupts, "Why am I grouped with SASUKE!" Naruto says Sasuke's name as though he had acid sliding over his skin.

"Well, NARUTO, Sasuke had the highest grade on the exam, while you, to be quite frank, had the worst." There is a burst of laughter from most of the peanut gallery. "Now, just sit down, shut up, and _just give it up! You have NO chance of beating Sasuke, and you cannot change the scores for that test!_ Now, be free and go eat everyone…" Iruka says in annoyance.

Hinata walks out of the classroom and looks around, 'wow…how could both Sasuke-san AND Naruto-kun disappear so quickly.' Hinata looks down at her lunch, 'guess I have to eat by myself.' She sighs, and tries to cheer herself up by quietly saying, "It doesn't matter, if I train hard, Naruto-kun will surely notice me! I just gotta get better!"

"Hn, Hinata, right?"

Hinata, startled out of her mind, turns around to face Sasuke standing in front of her holding some onigiri. Sasuke stares at her blush momentarily and says, "You want to eat lunch together?"

"Excuse me?"

Sasuke sighs trying not to get irritated with this girl, "Do. You. Want. To. Eat. Lunch. With. Me."

Hinata, utterly surprised by his comment, answers yes, so quietly that she thought he hadn't heard her when he suddenly grabbed her arm and pulled her with him into the woods. "Wait! W-why are we going into the w-w-woods?" Hinata stutters quietly.

"No one will find us here."

Hinata could have sworn her heart had stopped when he said those words. 'WHAT! What the heck does he mean by that! Does he mean he's gonna…**EEP**!'

Suddenly, Sasuke stops, drops her wrist, turns around and faces Hinata, who is standing behind him, her back to a tree, shaking, and a deep blush etched across her face. He glares and takes a step closer, causing her to press herself against the tree in attempt to keep a fair distance between them. He grabs her by the collar and lifts her a few inches above the ground, pushing her up against the tree so that she wouldn't have to be held up solely by her neck. "If you EVER tell someone what I had just said, implying that it is something utterly REPULSIVE, I'll kill you, no hesitations!"

"I-I'd never tell anyone that, S-Sasuke-san!"

'San?' Sasuke without warning lets go of her collar, causing her to fall the few inches. Sadly, the drop being unexpected, she doesn't land so gracefully. In fact she slips and falls forward into Sasuke, not with enough force to knock him to the ground, but with sufficient amount to anger him.

Hinata straightens herself up and backs away slowly, but before she could get too far, Sasuke grabs her arm and mutters a quiet, "Hn."

* * *

Naruto sits on the water tower and sighs, 'I'm not on a team with Sakura-chan…even though I worked so hard. Instead I'm stuck with a piñata…maybe I should at least TRY to befriend this girl.' Naruto jumps to his feet with a newfound enthusiasm, "I'll go find her and maybe actually learn her name!" He jumps off to go search around the village.

After about fifteen minutes of searching, he gave up and grabbed a bowl of ramen at Ichiraku's. He looks into his bowl of ramen, thinking that he heard that name before, 'Hinata Hyuuga…I KNOW she was in my class…now, _what in the world did she look like?_'

He picks up his chopsticks and a new bowl of ramen and starts moving the ingredients to make faces in his ramen to no avail. Giving up, he sighs and picks up the bowl of ramen and starts to eat it feverishly.

* * *

Sasuke had led Hinata to a river where he forced her to sit with him under a shady tree that rests upon the soft, fertile soil of the river bed.

Throughout about thirty minutes, Sasuke had only stared at Hinata and by now she is getting EXTREMELY uncomfortable with the way his eyes look at her, look THROUGH her, examining her. His eyes flinch every time she makes even the slightest movement; he follows her, studying her.

'Who is this girl? She hasn't even made a single move on me…I SHOULD be glad about that, but for some reason…I just can't bring myself to believe that. So, could it be that I had actually heard her right. NO! I will _not_ believe that this girl is not in love with me, but Naruto.'

"Um…Sasuke-san?" asks a slightly frightened Hinata as she looks at the river, immediately regretting her mouth opening.

Sasuke looks up at her, eyes seemingly eternally in the position of a glare. "Hn?"

"Um…I was w-wondering why you f-forced me to c-come eat with y-you."

Sasuke looks away, not knowing the reason himself. Evidently, Sasuke has to make up a reason to make it seem as though he knows everything about _everything_; which, of course, he did not; which is part of the reason he had asked her to come.

He mutters something about teamwork before taking another bite of his onigiri. "Um…if this was about t-teamwork…shouldn't you have in-invited Naruto-kun?"

Sasuke glares at her, she pulls back, shrinking away from him. Not wanting to anger him any further, she takes a bite of her lunch and looks towards the river, always feeling his icy glare fixated on her.

There it is again. Naruto-KUN; never had she in this whole time Sasuke talked—or rather sat—with her had she even ONCE call him Sasuke-kun. All she ever calls him is a simple Sasuke-san; and he _loathes_ her for it.

For the rest of the lunch hour, Sasuke and Hinata sat in the same position of him glaring at her while she looks helplessly away, trying to ignore his piercing glare that is always on her, unwavering. Right before the lunch bell rings to sound that it is over, Sasuke stands up and walks over to Hinata and holds out his hand. She looks up at, startled by his actions. She graciously takes his hand that helps her up. He picks up his stuff, and with his back turned, he says, "Don't get too excited, me treating you with this much respect ISN'T going to be the norm." And in his mind, he adds, 'But you WILL be getting more respect than one of my rabid fan girls.'

"Um…t-thank you Sasuke-san." He flinches after hearing san again. 'Wait…why do I hate it that she doesn't call me kun? Am I…actually _falling_ for someone!'

Together, they walk back to the academy in silence, sitting down as soon as the bell rings.


	2. Introduce Yourself!

After about two hours, all the teams had left, but their sensei had not shown up, and surprisingly, Naruto. Sasuke looks up at Hinata who is feverishly looking around, obviously worrying about Naruto. Furious rage sprang up in Sasuke; he has never felt so much hate for anyone, not even his brother.

Suddenly, the door opens and Naruto, completely out of breath walks into the classroom. "S-sorry, I'm so late…I was…um…" Naruto looks at Sasuke, and then continues, "…never mind." Naruto ignores Sasuke's and Hinata's stares—and glares—as he falls into a seat just as Kakashi opens the door and walks in to greet his new students. Naruto moans quietly to himself, not wanting to move again because his heart is still pounding from the extra training he had done after the bell sounding the end of lunch rang. He has no intention of Sasuke finding out how much training he's doing to beat him.

"Follow me…or I'll end up hating all of you…" Kakashi says with a smile from behind his face obscured mask.

* * *

Sasuke sits on the top step on a three step staircase while Naruto and Hinata sit on lower steps in front of him. Kakashi sits on a fence opposite his three new students.

"Well, let's begin by introducing yourselves," Kakashi says, sitting on the fence opposite his students.

"Well…what the hell do you want to know!" Naruto asks, annoyed by how his new sensei had come in before he could properly rest.

"How about you say your likes, dislikes, dreams for the future, hobbies and things like that?" Kakashi asks nonchalantly.

"Hey, hey, why don't you introduce yourself to use first!" Naruto shouts, accusingly.

'He does look kinda suspicious…' Hinata thinks quietly.

"Okay…my name is Hatake Kakashi…I like a lot of things…I also dislike a lot of things. My dreams for the future? I don't feel like telling you! And…I have lots of hobbies," Kakashi says, believing that his students would actually accept that as a response.

'That didn't tell us anything except his name,' Hinata thinks.

"Now it's your turn, let's start on the right."

"Alright! My name is Uzumaki Naruto! I like cup ramen. I like it even more when Iruka sensei pays for my ramen," Naruto says, adjusting his headband, "What I dislike is waiting three minutes for the ramen to cook! And my dream…"

'Does he only think about RAMEN!" Kakashi thinks, exasperatedly.

"…is to be the next Hokage and then have the people of this village acknowledge my existence!" Naruto finishes. "Oh! And my hobbies are pranks, I guess!"

"Alright…how 'bout the girl on the left…" Kakashi says, bored.

"Um…my name is H-Hyuuga Hinata…the thing I l-like is…" Hinata stops and turns bright red. "**CINNAMON ROLLS!"** Hinata screams high-pitched.

Kakashi, Naruto, and Sasuke all fall backward, in surprise, from Hinata's very loud scream. Naruto and Sasuke end up colliding with the cold, hard, unforgiving concrete, and Kakashi falls off the roof.

The three genin look in shock at the place where their jounin leader once sat. Suddenly, they see a hand clamp onto the fence and Kakashi pulls himself back onto the roof. "That was…unexpected. Please continue," Kakashi says, leaning against the fence.

"…Um…I don't like seafood that much. My dream for the future is to fight my father and prove that I am worthy enough to be the heir to the Hyuuga clan. And I like pressing flowers, so I guess that's my hobby," Hinata says quietly.

"Okay…last, but not least, the emo kid in the middle," Kakashi says, pointing to Sasuke.

Sasuke sighs and says, "My name is Uchiha Sasuke. There are lots of things I dislike and I don't really like anything." 'Except Hinata.' "I can't really call it a dream, but I have an ambition. The restoration of my clan…and to kill a certain man."

Kakashi stares down at the three genin in front of him. "Now, the introductions are done. Tomorrow we'll start our duties as shinobi."

Naruto sits up straight and salutes, "Yeah! What kind of duties! Duties! Duties!"

"First we are going to do something with just the four of us," Kakashi says calmly.

"What is it? What is it?" Naruto asks excitedly.

"Survival training," Kakashi says, still not changing his expression.

"Survival training?" Naruto asks confused. Sasuke stays silent and Hinata blinks in surprise. "We've already had _enough_ training at the academy! When do we get to do cool ninja stuff?"

"This isn't a normal training…this time, I'm your opponent," Kakashi says. All three ninja stare flabbergasted at their sensei.

"Then! Then! What is it?" Naruto asks, genuinely confused. Kakashi snickers quietly to himself.

Sasuke frowns, getting irritated, "What's so funny, _sensei?"_

Kakashi smiles and says, "Uum…well…it's just that when I tell you this, you guys are going to freak out."

"Freak out?" Naruto asks, tilting his head slightly. "Ha?"

In all seriousness, Kakashi says, "Of all the 27 graduates, only 9 will be chosen to become genin. The rest will be sent back to the academy. This training is a very difficult exam with a failure rate of over 66%!" The three ninja stare at him in shock. "Ha ha ha! I told you you'd freak out…"

Naruto is the first to speak after this shock. "What? No way! But we worked so hard! Then what was the point of graduating?"

Kakashi blinks. "Oh…that? That was just to select those who have the change to become genin." Naruto stares at him in shock. "Anyway, tomorrow you have to show your real skills on the training grounds. Bring all the shinobi tools you have. Oh…skip breakfast, or you might throw up."

Naruto starts shaking with frustration. 'I can't fail here. I'll have to show Kakashi sensei all I've got and make him recognize my strength!'

Kakashi gives his three students each a piece of paper. "The details are on this paper and don't be late tomorrow." Sasuke immediately crumples his up. Hinata reads the paper. Naruto looks at it and thinks, 'Too many words!'

Once she read the paper, Hinata thinks, 'I have _got_ to pass. If I fail, father might…might not love me…'

That night, Naruto trained with his motionless Kakashi punching bag, his Sasuke one was in the washer.

**OKAY! Next chapter will be the fight for the bells!**


	3. Survival Training My Ass!

**Sorry about the long wait, I kinda forgot about this story...SORRY! ^-^U I'll try and update it faster? Maybe?**

The next day, Kakashi calmly walks into training ground three. As he sees his team, he lifts his hand in a slight wave and says, "Hey guys, good morning!"

Sadly, his greeting is drowned out by Naruto shouting, "YOU'RE LATE!"

Kakashi ignores them and takes out a timer. He sets the time and places it on a small stump. "Ok, it's set for noon," he says, causing his team to give him their attention. He takes two bells out of his jacket pocket and lifts them up, saying, "Here are two bells. Your task is to take these from me before the time is up. Those who don't have a bell by noon get no lunch. I'll not only tie you to one of those stumps, but I'll also eat right in front of you." Kakashi points to the stumps behind his three genin students.

Naruto, Sasuke, and Hinata stare at their sensei with starving expressions. 'So that's why he told us not to eat…' all three of them thought simultaneously.

"You only have to get one bell. There are only two, so one of you will definitely be tied to the stump. And the person who doesn't take a bell fails. So at least one of you will be sent back to the academy." The air around the genin stiffens with tension. "If you want, you can use shurikens and kunais. You won't succeed unless you come at me with the intent to kill."

Too eager to get started, Naruto draws a kunai and rushes at Kakashi. Kakashi all too easily grabs Naruto's hand with the kunai and his head, pulling the kunai up to the back of his head. "Calm down. I haven't even said start yet."

'No way, I couldn't even see that…' Hinata thinks in shock.

'So this is a jounin,' Sasuke thinks with a smirk.

Kakashi glances at his three students. "Well, it seems you're finally prepared to come at me with the intent to kill." Kakashi chuckles quietly, "It seems like I'm beginning to like you guys. Ok, let's get going. Ready. BEGIN!" All four ninja scatter, Kakashi to stand in the open somewhere, Sasuke and Hinata to hide nearby, and Naruto to try and confront Kakashi on his own. 'Nice…they've all hidden very well,' Kakashi thinks as he rubs the back of his head.

"COME HERE! AND FIGHT ME! I SAID, FIGHT ME!" Naruto shouts from in front of Kakashi.

"Um…you're a little off…"

'What a baka…' Sasuke thinks from his bush.

Naruto growls and charges at his new sensei. Suddenly, an orange blob went flying to the left and into a bush. Kakashi blinks and looks at where the blob had disappeared with Naruto. 'That was…odd…'

* * *

Sasuke glares at Naruto as he covers his mouth. "Shh…don't go up against him alone. Didn't you notice?"

Naruto rips Sasuke's hand off his mouth. "Notice _what?_"

"N-Naruto-kun…don't you t-think it was s-strange that t-there were only t-two bells when t-they b-bothered to put us in t-three-man c-cells," Hinata quietly says from nearby.

Naruto looks over at her and blinks. "So…what's the point of this?"

Sasuke quietly says, "Baka. It has to be about teamwork. What _else_ could it be!"

Naruto glares at him. "You don't have to be so mean! I'm dense, I get it! You don't have to rub it in!"

"W-we should p-put our s-skills together and t-try to get the b-bells," Hinata quietly says as she fiddles with the hem of her jacket.

"Hinata's right," Sasuke says. "And I have an idea. Listen carefully."

* * *

Kakashi closes his book and looks around the training field. 'I wonder where they went off to,' he thinks quietly. Suddenly, he feels Naruto's chakra flare to his right. 'There he is.' Suddenly, Naruto was in front of him. 'WHAT!' Kakashi jumps back and avoids Naruto's kunai attack. 'How did he get in front of me?'

"DAMN! QUIT MOVING!" Naruto shouts angrily. 'Wow. That's just what Sasuke and Hinata said he'd do. I think he even jumped back the exact same distance they said he would.'

Suddenly, Kakashi feels Naruto's chakra flaring from behind him. 'It has to be Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!' Kakashi sighs and ducks from Naruto's wide angled swing. He punches Naruto and he goes flying. 'If he's just attacking like this…why does he need the bunshin?'

"Ow…" Naruto whines out. He growls as he stands up. "THAT'S IT!" Naruto forms a hand seal and shouts, "TAJUU KAGE BUNSHIN NO JUTSU!"

Kakashi's eye widens. 'No one's supposed to know that technique, much less a _pre-genin_!' Naruto looks out and in every direction is a sea of orange. "Interesting," he says, keeping his voice calm, despite his panic. "But do you have enough stamina to keep those clones going?"

"I don't need to," multiple of the Narutos say at once.

Kakashi frowns but then realizes it immediately, 'They're working together!'

Sadly, Kakashi's realization comes too late, a soft voice says, "Juuken!" He turns to see Hinata coming at him. He tries to move but notices he can't. He looks down to see some of the Naruto's holding down his legs so he wouldn't leave. Before Kakashi has a chance to try a replacement jutsu, Hinata launches her assault on his chakra points, dispersing the clones in the process.

Kakashi stumbles back a few feet, shocked that the attack was still pretty strong, even though she wasn't even a genin yet. He looks up to see Hinata making her way quickly back to the tree line. 'Interesting strategy: astonish me with a high-level jutsu, surround me, immobilize me, disrupt my ability to use my chakra, and retreat back to the forest while still being surrounded. That can't be the brunt of their attack. I still have the bells. Then that means—!'

"KATON: GOKAKYUU NO JUTSU," Sasuke shouts from above. Kakashi looks up. New Naruto clones hold him firmly in place, and his chakra points mostly disrupted, he could do nothing but take the attack. Sasuke's fireball engulfs Kakashi.

Immediately after the fire dissipates, more clones latch onto Kakashi's legs, immobilizing him once more and allowing Sasuke to jump down and land within the mass of Narutos. Kakashi curses under his breath. Three genin were actually giving him a hard time. 'No. These aren't normal genin. They have inhumanly amounts of chakra for their ages. All the techniques they just used, they shouldn't have been able to do until they were at _least_ chunin.' He looks to his sides and sees some of the clones dissipating. He smirks quietly. 'It seems he's losing his chakra.' But he also noticed that Naruto kept creating more clones, despite the fact that his chakra should be near nothing by now.

Without expecting it, all the Naruto clones attack Kakashi, pummeling him. Finally able to dispose of the clones at his feet, Kakashi is able to escape. He manages to get out of the mass of Naruto clones only slightly damaged. The clones growl and surround Kakashi again before one shouts, "Shihohappou Shuriken!" Some clones jump in the air, but all of them throw shuriken at Kakashi, some hitting him, some completely missing. Kakashi hears another shout, this time saying, "BUNSHIN TAIATARI!" Suddenly, the clones attack Kakashi in groups of five, none of them aiming to hit him.

Kakashi frowns at this. 'They're just a distraction. Why?' Naruto no longer calls out any more moves so the clones just attack Kakashi widely and openly, as if they wanted to get disposed of. After defeating all the clones, Kakashi has just enough time to look up at his three students standing by the stumps before the timer goes off. Kakashi breathes out. 'At least they didn't force me to use my sharingan. But they were pretty damn close.

"So, how'd we do, Kakashi-sensei?" Naruto asks, lacing his fingers behind his head and resting the heel of one foot on the top of the other.

Kakashi frowns. Sasuke sees this and holds up the bells. Kakashi's eye widens. He looks at his waist. They're still there. 'No. This is just a henge.' With that thought, the bells poof to reveal two stones tied together with translucent ninja string. 'Damn. They got me. Not only that, but they also worked together.' "When did you get those?"

Naruto grins and says, "When my clones launched their first attack that involved all of them. One of my clones grabbed them just as you jumped off. It stayed in the back after that and managed to get it to Sasuke."

Kakashi gives each of his students an once-over. "To think that after conjuring all those clones, you still have a fair amount of chakra. And those techniques you two did, those are both high-level jutsu that require a lot of chakra. I am impressed. But what I'm curious about is…why were some of your clones disappearing if you still had a lot of chakra left?"

Sasuke smirked at this, "That's because we were talking to him." Kakashi's eye widens. "After we said what we wanted, we dispersed the clone and he conjured up another to answer back. But we're not stupid enough to make it look like we were talking, we dispersed more than one clone at a time and he conjured more than one back."

"When did you plan this?"

"W-when you w-were reading, K-Kakashi-sensei," Hinata says quietly. "I u-used my B-Byakugan to make s-sure that you w-weren't on to u-us."

'I've been duped by mere genin. I feel so…ugh…' Kakashi sighs and says, "Well you passed because you got the bells, but not just that. The purpose of this exercise was to see if you could work as a team even if it meant one of you would get punished nonetheless." Kakashi smiles and says, "Congratulations, and you _all_ can eat."

"YESSAI!" Naruto shouts happily.

Sasuke glares at Naruto. 'Even though he's annoying…I can't hate him _all_ the time. He is actually a _relatively_ decent ninja.'

'Naruto-kun…' Hinata thinks, pressing her two index fingers together.

'Well he's still an energetic one,' Kakashi thinks amusedly. He looks over the team—_his_ team once more and thinks, 'They're all different. There's nothing similar about them except that they were able to pass my test. This could get interesting.'

* * *

**Geez…I didn't expect it to be **_**that**_** long. Oh well, tell me how you like the different way of them getting the bells! I'd appreciate it! ^.^**

**-MosukeHinata**


	4. The First Mission

**HAPPY NEW YEAR! ^-^ I hope everyone's enjoying all the celebration! Well, here's something else to celebrate about: a new chapter! ^-^ Enjoy! **

**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto.**

* * *

Sasuke sits up in his bed the next morning. He looks outside and the sun just barely came out. 'Damn my internal clock.' He falls back down, wanting to get more sleep. 'Sensei said we'll have our first _real_ mission today. It's probably a stupid D-rank. Well, I'll just have to advance to chunin so I don't have to do those damn missions…' He looks over to his right, the picture for his new team sitting proudly on his dresser. "Hinata-chan…"

He sighs when he realizes he's not gonna get any more sleep. He sits up and looks around. The same apartment he's lived in since the massacre greets him. Without another word, he gets up and gets ready to go meet Kakashi at the bridge that he said would be where they're to meet from then on.

* * *

Naruto wakes up screaming and sits up straight, frantically looking around. He sighs when he realizes he's still in his dirty, rundown apartment. "Good…it's not real…" Naruto looks around and his eyes land on the picture his team took the day before. A smile graces his lips as he thinks about his new team. They may not like each other the way other teams do, but they can really work together if it's important. He throws the sheets off his bed and gets up. He glances at his clock and sighs. "I _guess_ I can take a shower before I go—since I have the time." Naruto grumbles as he stumbles groggily into his bathroom.

* * *

Hinata blinks as she slowly wakes up. 'Today's the first day as official genin.' Hinata smiles up at the ceiling. 'Maybe father will actually be proud of me now!' Hinata sits up, closes her eyes, and stretches. When she opens her eyes, they land on the picture of her team. She smiles. "Naruto-kun…" 'I get to be on the same team as Naruto-kun for a while now. Yes!' She pulls the sheets back and climbs out to get ready for her first day of missions.

* * *

Kakashi sits up tiredly and looks around his apartment. 'Why does today feel different than normal?' He looks behind himself, expecting to only see his old team picture—the one with his sensei and his deceased teammates. To his surprise, he not only sees that, but another picture. He blinks and all the previous day's events coming flowing back to him. 'Oh yeah…I should be getting ready to go meet my team right about now.' He lies back down and slips into sleep.

* * *

Four hours later, the three genin are waiting at the bridge that Kakashi had told them about. Naruto is scowling as he sits cross-legged on the ground. "Why the hell is he still not here?" He growls as he crosses his arms also.

Hinata bites her lip and looks like she's about to say something. Sasuke glances at her and notices this. "Do you have something to say, Hinata-chan?"

Hinata blinks in surprise. "Um…I-I…my f-father said t-that K-Kakashi-sensei s-s-spends his t-time at the m-memorial stone. S-since he l-lost most of h-his friends before, he s-spends his time there in m-mourning, I g-guess…" She pokes her index fingers together shyly.

Naruto and Sasuke both blink in surprise. 'So that's why he's late.' Sasuke looks away, knowing exactly how Kakashi feels. Naruto looks down, knowing how it feels to be alone and misunderstood. Naruto sighs before saying, "I guess we can learn to wait for him." Sasuke and Hinata both nod in unison.

Just then, there is a poof on one of the rafters on the bridge. "Good morning!" Kakashi says, holding one hand up in acknowledgment. Naruto stands up and moves closer to Kakashi.

"So, what's our mission?" Naruto asks as he puts his arms behind his head. Kakashi blinks in surprise. They're not going to scold him?

"Well, it's a D-rank mission to paint a fence on the northern side of town," Kakashi says suspiciously. "We should start heading over there if we want to get done before sunset."

Naruto sighs at the mission. It was horribly lame. He shakes his head. 'No! I have to give this my all! If I can become an AWESOME ninja, I will rise in rank and eventually become Hokage! I have to take everything seriously!'

With a new found determination, Naruto follows Kakashi to the other side of Konoha. Apparently, Naruto's determination started to rub off because Sasuke and Hinata were feeling strangely pumped about this horrible mission.

* * *

Once the ninja reach the fence, all the determination immediately withers and dies. The fence was probably over 25 miles long. "HOW THE HELL ARE WE SUPPOSED TO PAINT ALL THAT!" Naruto yells in frustration.

Hinata bites her lip and looks around at her teammates. Sasuke glances at her and realizes this and asks, "What's wrong, Hinata?"

Surprised at being noticed again, Hinata quietly says, "W-what about N-Naruto-kun's c-clones?" Sasuke, Kakashi, and Naruto all blink at her question; Kakashi in pride, Naruto in realization, and Sasuke in surprise and anger for not realizing it.

"Oh!" Naruto shouts and he puts his hand in the familiar hand sign. "Tajuu Kage Bunshin no jutsu!" With a poof, 500 Naruto's fill the area and grab some paint and brushes. Naruto grins and puts his hands behind his head and the three genin and Kakashi watch as the fence is finished being painted in a matter of thirty seconds. The clones each dispel once they paint their share of fence, only after handing the paint off to another Naruto who needs it.

Once the Naruto's finish, the three genin turn to Kakashi, each showing a different expression; one was smug, one was grinning like a madman, and the last was smiling softly. Kakashi looks back up at the fence to see it evenly and thoroughly coated with paint. He looks back at Naruto and thinks, 'Well, I should expect that from a kid who painted the Hokage statue regularly.' "Okay then," he says, snapping his book shut, "how about we go get you three another mission?" They just shrug and follow Kakashi towards the Hokage mansion. Kakashi sweat-drops and thinks, 'Okay, how am I going to explain to Iruka that my students were able to finish a mission in a matter of minutes?'

* * *

**I'm going to end it there. Sorry, but I think I might have to do a full chapter for the explanation and what follows it. Sorry!**


	5. Flowers, Missions, and Protecting a Team

**Hello! I'm thinking about adding some new fics, but I don't know if I should because I have so many unfinished ones already up. Could you be so kind as to take the poll on my profile and tell me if I should add them? And if in one week the majority says yes, I'll put up a new poll with the summaries and you can decide which one I should put up first.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto.**

* * *

Iruka looks at team 7, the team he had just dismissed on their first mission not even ten minutes ago, walk into the mission room, requesting another mission. "What about the one I just gave you?"

"Ano…they already finished it, Iruka," Kakashi says, scratching the back of his head sheepishly.

Iruka blinks and then frowns. "But…that's not possible. That fence was 25 miles long! There's no way that they could have finished that mission in this amount of time!"

"I used my shadow clones, Iruka-sensei," Naruto says. "May we have another mission?"

Iruka blinks at Naruto's formalness. "Oh…um…sure, I guess." He starts rummaging with some scrolls before finding one labeled 'D-rank' he opens it and gives a summary. "You are to go help some of the more elderly villagers with their gardening." Iruka looks up in time to see Naruto's eyes light up at the word 'gardening'.

Naruto grins and runs up to take the scroll. "Let's go!" Sasuke and Hinata share a confused glance at Naruto's sudden enthusiasm.

Team 7 turns around and before they can take a first step out of the mission room, the door opens and in comes team 8. Sakura's eyes widen before she squeals her squeal of death and immediately latches on to Sasuke like a parasite. Sasuke glares at her and Hinata shrinks away. Naruto is still recovering from the squeal and he stares at Sakura in exasperation. "Damn, how could I have ever liked you, you fucking banshee!"

Every person in the room looks at Naruto in shock. Naruto raises an eyebrow before he turns to Kakashi and asks, "I said that out loud, didn't I?" Kakashi nods slowly. "Damn," Naruto says.

"NARUTO! YOU IDIOT!" Sakura brings her hand back to punch him, but Sasuke grabs her arm. She looks at him in shock. "B-but, Sasuke-kun. I thought you hated Naruto!"

"Yeah!" Naruto says, looking at Sasuke curiously.

'I do. He's stealing Hinata-chan away from me.' "He's a teammate and we're about to go on a mission and it would be inconvenient if he were to be harmed in any way." He lets go of Sakura's arm and looks at Naruto. "Besides, weren't you excited about this mission?"

Naruto blinks before sheepishly scratching the back of him head. "Was it that obvious?" The rest of team 7 nods and chuckles sheepishly. "Well, can we go then?"

Kakashi nods and his team starts walking out. "Sasuke-kun," Sakura says, catching Sasuke's arm on his way out. He inwardly cringes but stays impassive on the outside. "Want to go have lunch with me once you're done with your mission?"

"I have other plans," Sasuke says quickly. He pulls his arm away and walks out the door. Naruto, Hinata, and Kakashi quickly follow behind him.

Sakura sighs sadly and glares at the door. 'Damn…why does _Hinata_ get Sasuke all to herself? It's not fair!' She huffs and turns around.

"Sakura," Kurenai says, "you have to stop being so obsessive of Sasuke. You're not even on the same team."

"But—"

"I would like to give you your mission, if you don't mind," Iruka says, holding up a scroll. Kurenai turns to him and gives him her full attention. She lets him know this by nodding once. He sighs as opens the scroll. "You will be babysitting the Hokage's grandson and his friends while their sensei is on a mission."

Chouji stuffs some more chips in his mouth before saying, "That mission seems lame…what did Naruto's team get? He was excited about it."

Sakura scoffs. "They only get a good mission be _Sasuke-kun_ is on it! If Naruto no baka wasn't there, and I was there instead of Hinata, I'm sure we'd be getting A-rank missions, even one for our first mission!"

Iruka sighs and says, "They got a D-rank mission. And it wasn't their first mission. They had a mission to paint a fence ten minutes earlier but they finished and I gave them another mission. Naruto's excited because he likes to garden."

Chouji almost chokes on his chips. Naruto…gardening? That just doesn't seem real…

Sakura scoffs. "As if Naruto can garden! He probably kills everything he touches!"

Iruka frowns. "You know nothing of who Naruto is! Just go do your mission and don't assume things about him!" Kurenai immediately starts ushering her students out of the room. Just before closing the door, she stops and bows apologetically to him. He sighs before raising his hand in acknowledgement.

Kurenai nods and closes the door behind her. Iruka sinks deep into his chair. He groans and rubs the place between his eyes. "Naruto…I can't wait until these disrespectful people finally realize your true self."

He closes his eyes to try to take a rest but opens them once more when the door opens again. Iruka sighs when the last rookie team makes their way into the mission room for their first mission. "Woohoo! You ready, Akamaru!" A bark followed that statement as Kiba runs up to Iruka. "What's our first mission?"

"Must you be so loud, it's troublesome," Shikamaru says, glaring slightly at Kiba.

Kiba glared at him before turning back to Iruka. "What's our first mission?" he repeats.

Iruka sighs quietly before pulling out a scroll and tossing it over Kiba to Asuma who deftly catches it. Without even explaining the mission, Iruka waves them out. Asuma nods. 'He obviously hasn't had the best day and it's just started.' "Come on."

Iruka leans back and smirks. 'At least I gave that bad-mouthing Sakura a mission with Konohamaru. This is the only time I'll ever even _think_ this. _Don't_ behave, Konohamaru-kun.'

* * *

Naruto smiles as they reach the elderly woman's house. He glances around her house to find that her garden is disheveled and had obviously seen better days. He sighs sadly and shakes his head. 'Poor plants…'

Kakashi walks up to the door and knocks. He waits until the door opens and a very friendly old woman pops her head out the door. "Hello, young man. How may I help you?"

"Hello, my team and I are here to help you with your garden," he says, getting down to business.

She smiles and says, "Oh my, you're here so early! Well, you can go ahead and get started. I'll bring out some lemonade later." Kakashi nods, thanks her, and walks towards the garden, his genin following him.

Naruto grins as he looks down at the damaged glowers and cracks his knuckles. "Let's get to work!" Sasuke, Hinata, and Kakashi all exchange looks again as Naruto begins pulling out weeds before stopping and looking back at his team. "Aren't you going to help?"

"Um…aren't you going to use your clones on this one?" Sasuke asks. He didn't really mind doing this mission, he was just curious.

Naruto blinks before shaking his head. "Too many people would end in a sloppy job, and these plants don't deserve such treatment."

Sasuke blinks in surprise, his respect for Naruto rising slightly. 'Who knew the Dobe cared about life that much?' He turns to Hinata and shrugs. He gets down on his knees and starts pulling weeds. Hinata picks up a trowel and starts uprooting some flowers carefully to switch out some dried out, nutrient-less dirt to exchange with some new dirt.

Kakashi smirks at his team before leaning against a tree and starts reading his book.

* * *

Half an hour after first arriving on the scene the elderly woman comes out of the house, carrying a tray with four glasses of lemonade. She glances at her garden and smiles. "Why thank you, young people, my garden has never looked so alive. I really appreciate all that you're doing."

Naruto grins and admires his work. 'I haven't worked so hard on a garden in forever!' "Thanks! Plants deserve the right treatment, too." The old woman smiled and walked a handed everyone a glass of lemonade. Naruto gladly takes the glass and downs it in a few seconds. "I set up a self watering system so that you won't have to keep calling ninja to help you or doing it yourself." Naruto smiles and hands the glass back to the woman.

Sasuke and Hinata glance at each other before smiling. Neither had ever seen Naruto this focused on something. 'Gardening must be really important to him,' Hinata thinks with a smile. Just then, a man walks up into the backyard.

"Mother, I'm hom…" his eyes widen as he sees Naruto. He scowls at the boy. "What the hell is that_ thing_ doing here?" Naruto's smile immediately slips off his face. "Get out of here, you _monster_! No one wants you here!"

Naruto looks down with a grimace. He shrinks away. He glances up at Hinata and Sasuke to see them looking at him curiously. 'I can't tell them…they'll hate me…' He nods and starts heading for the entrance.

Sasuke's eyes widen. 'What the hell? He's never that submissive! Why is he just doing what this bastard tells him to? And what the hell does he mean by 'monster'?' Sasuke frowns and grabs Naruto's arm. "Stay," he says in a voice that is not to be messed with. He glares up at the man who just came into the garden. "Who the hell are you to tell him what to and not to do?"

The man stares at Sasuke like he's insane. "What the hell? Didn't your parents teach you not to mess with _monsters_? Get away from that _thing_! He's not even worthy of living! Get away from that demon, Uchiha-sama."

Sasuke glares at him. 'What a hypocrite! Who the hell does he think he is, calling me with that honorific in the same sentence as he calls Naruto a demon! Wait…why am I standing up for the Dobe?' He glances at Hinata to see her look of approval. He blinks. 'Maybe I'll keep this up for a little longer…' His glare hardens. "_Naruto_ is our teammate and you should speak to him with the same respect as you would for any of us."

The man's jaw drops, along with Naruto's. Kakashi stares with raised eyebrows. Hinata nods determinedly. The elderly woman smiles gently at their show of affection towards their own teammates. "Why don't you go home and rest up. I appreciate all the hard work you young ones put into my garden."

Naruto snaps out of his daze and bows to the woman. He smiles and says, "May your garden flourish with life." With that, he turns and leaves the yard, keeping his back to his team in an attempt to hide his tears of joy.

Sasuke glances at Hinata and sees her smiling fondly at him, thanking him for helping to stand up for Naruto. "Hn. Let's go…" he mutters and starts walking away, fighting away the blush. His eyebrow twitches when he hears Kakashi chuckles quietly behind him.

**

* * *

**

DID YOU LIKE IT! Tell me, please! ^-^

**-MosukeHinata**


	6. The Motivation Plan

**Author Note: Sorry about hardly ever updating, I've been busy because school was almost over and I have a lot of last minute stuff to do. Now that it's done, I have more time to write, enjoy the chapters!**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto.**

* * *

Konohamaru stares up at the four people standing in front of him. "What the hell do _you_ want?"

Shino pushes his glasses up on his face. "We have a mission to 'babysit' you."

Konohamaru's eyebrow twitches. "I'm NOT a baby! I don't need someone to take care of me!" He glares at Shino. He eyes Sakura with annoyance before he scoffs. "Especially by someone as ugly as you! Your hideousness will scare all my friends away!" Konohamaru turns around with his arms crossed. "I'm going to go find Leader-sama! Maybe he'll teach me a new technique!" Before he can even take one step, he feels a punch connect to the back of his head.

He blinks at how weak it was. He looks back to see the pink haired girl glaring at him with her fist still held out. "I'm _not_ ugly!"

Konohamaru's eyes narrow. "If you really mean that, you'd punch me for real!" Sakura blushes slightly. Konohamaru blinks before grinning evilly. "Was _that_ seriously all your strength?" He barks a laugh. "The weakest person in my class can punch harder than you!" With that, he runs off. 'Let's see if you _genin_ can't even find a simple _academy student_!'

Team eight glances at each other. "Well, you _are_ supposed to be babysitting him. Meaning that you have to keep him in your sights at all times," Kurenai says as she eyes her team because of their lack of movement.

At that, Chouji sighs before taking off after Konohamaru. Sakura stares at Kurenai in shock. 'There is _no_ way I'm wasting my energy doing that!'

Kurenai glances down at Sakura. She frowns and says, "Don't give me that look!" She motions for her to go. Sakura sighs and turns around. She frowns when she finds that Shino is no longer there. "He already left. Now go!" Sakura groans before slowly jogging in the general direction Konohamaru ran off in.

Kurenai sighs at the incompetence of one of her students. 'This is gonna be tough…' She takes to the rooftops and lazily follows them. 'How am I gonna get that Haruno to actually want to become a ninja? It's like she has absolutely no will to become a shinobi. How can I convince someone so… indolent? Maybe I should speak with Iruka-san or Hokage-sama later…' She looks up to see Sakura resting against a tree. 'Or maybe I should go now.'

* * *

Iruka sits down flipping through the newest mission scrolls with the Sandaime smoking his pipe to his left. Suddenly, a knock on the door brings both out of their respective stupors. "Come in," the Hokage gruffly says and blinks in shock as Kurenai walks through the door. "Where's your team, Kurenai-san?"

"They are performing the mission to babysit your grandson, but there is something I want to discuss with you." When the Sandaime nods, Kurenai continues. "Haruno-san did pass my test, but she has nearly no spirit to become a shinobi. I do not understand what to do."

Iruka sighs quietly and spins around in his chair. 'I should have guessed. Without Sasuke on her team to impress, she'll not want to become great.'

The Sandaime blinks in shock and looks at Kurenai with a sigh. "Well, what was giving her the determination to try in the academy?"

"Uchiha Sasuke," Iruka says spitefully.

The Hokage sighs. "God, preteen girls only have a one-track mind," he mumbles beneath his breath before looking up at Kurenai. "How about we have a rookie nine training session, a session where all the newest genin get to see where their fellow shinobi stand at power level? Is that okay with you? If so, let's hold it next Friday so that they can amp up their skills a bit more."

Kurenai blinks in shock. "It is fine with me, but I suggest you get the permission from the other jounin sensei."

Iruka slowly spins around and looks at the Hokage in surprise. 'That's a bold proposal. Especially considering how much Sakura hates Naruto.' "Hokage-sama, are you sure that's a good idea?"

"Of course it is, Iruka. Don't tell me you don't trust my decisions?"

"I trust them with my life, Hokage-sama," he says as he stands. He bows and turns to the door. "I'll go alert Kakashi-sempai and Asuma-sempai about your decision." He promptly poofs from the room.

Hiruzen leans back in his chair with a smirk. Kurenai catches this and tilts her head slightly. "Why are you smirking?" she asks. She quickly adds, "if you don't mind my asking, Hokage-sama."

Hiruzen blows out three smoke rings. "Iruka-san's just worried about Naruto-kun. He wants to check up on his progress, no doubt."

* * *

A poof appears before team seven as they make their way into their training grounds. Naruto's eyes widen and he quickly attaches himself to his previous sensei with a girly shout of, "Iruka-sensei!" Naruto giggles as Iruka tousles the boy's hair. "Ne, can we go get some ramen after this!"

Iruka smiles sadly. "Sorry, Naruto, I'm busy now." At seeing Naruto's crest-fallen expression, he couldn't help but say, "How about I treat your whole team tomorrow?"

Naruto shouts in happiness and starts happy-dancing around Sasuke and Hinata. "May I ask the reason for your visit," Kakashi asks. He puts a hand on Naruto's shoulder to cease his dancing.

Iruka stops smiling and takes on a serious expression. "Hokage-sama has requested that next Friday, all the rookie teams get together to have a training session to see where their fellow rookies are at. Of course, I need your permission."

Naruto's eyes light up and he grins. 'Yes, I can finally show them how great a ninja I've become!'

Sasuke smirks confidently. 'Hn, now those idiots can finally see how much weaker than me they are!'

Hinata fiddles her fingers slightly before smiling. 'Maybe I can get Naruto to notice me.'

Kakashi glances down at his team before smiling. "Of course you have my permission!" He turns towards the twelve year olds. "Let's show them what team seven can do! So I might as well start your training now, if you're up for it."

"Of course!" Naruto shouts, pumping his fists into the air. "See you tomorrow, Iruka-sensei! We've got some training to do!"

Iruka smiles before nodding and disappearing.

Kakashi puts away his book and crosses his arms behind his back. "Please do not interrupt me. I'll be teaching you tree-climbing with only your feet. This is a chakra training exercise that helps you with your chakra control. I might as well tell you now that the less chakra someone has, the easier this exercise is for them. Naruto, you having the most chakra among the three of you will have a harder time with this. I can also tell you that the longer you do this, the easier it will get, not just because you are learning, but because you will be using more of your chakra up. Now, watch as I do."

He walks up to the tree and pauses for a minute before walking calmly up the side of the tree. When he carefully stops while standing on the bottom of a branch, he looks back at his awe-struck students, although Sasuke and Hinata weren't showing it that much. "So, cool!" Naruto shouts. "How do we do it!"

Kakashi smirks. "Okay, well, channel chakra to your feet and when it's at the right amount, you'll be able to climb. If it's too much or too little, you'll fall." He tosses three kunai, one landing in front of each of his student's feet. "Use these to mark your height as you ascend."

The three genin channel their chakra before they stare up at the menacing looking trees. "Let's go!" Naruto shouts and charges forward.

* * *

Iruka reappears in a tree outside the dango shop where team ten is sitting having a snack. 'Well, it seems they've finished their mission.' He jumps down in front of Asuma, causing the entire team to look at him. "Good afternoon, Asuma-san. Hokage-sama has requested that all the rookie teams attend a special training session next Friday so that they can see what their comrade's levels are at. Of course, I need your permission."

"Sasuke-kun's gonna be there?" Ino asks happily and at Iruka's slow nod, she starts jumping up and down happily, causing Kiba to look at her. He feels his face heat up as he watches her chest bounce up and down.

"God," he whispers breathlessly. His eyes widen before he looks away, causing Akamaru to look at him curiously. 'Was I just checking her out! Oh my god!'

Asuma shrugs. "I guess that's okay, I don't see anything wrong with it." Iruka nods and disappears to obediently relay this information to the Hokage.

* * *

**There you have it. **

**-MosukeHinata**


	7. Thoughts and Feelings

**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto.**

* * *

With a distinct poof, Iruka appears in the Sandaime's office. When the Sandaime looks up from his stack of papers, Iruka dutifully says, "All three teams have okayed and are willing to participate in the training at the given time."

Hiruzen smiles and puffs on his pipe. "That's good. That'll surely get them willing to train harder." He sadly glances down at the stack of papers on his desk. "Oh, Iruka-san, if you aren't busy, could you—?"

"I apologize, Hokage-sama," Iruka says quickly, glancing and the papers, "But I have my own stack of papers to take care of."

Hiruzen visibly deflates and mumbles a quiet, "Of course." Iruka smiles sorrowfully before disappearing in a poof. He takes another puff on his pipe before he sets off once more on the mountainous stack of papers.

* * *

Naruto lands down on his ass and he glares up at Sasuke. He growls as the Uchiha puts his hands in his pockets, looking down at Naruto arrogantly. He glances over at Hinata to see the sad look in her eye and he inwardly cringes. He takes the hands out of his pockets and reaches out to help Naruto up.

Naruto blinks in shock at the hand before warily taking it and pulling himself up. He dusts off his butt before looking at Sasuke and muttering a quiet, "Thanks." The three students look over at Kakashi.

Kakashi, noticing that he is now the center of attention, leans away from the tree and says, "That was a nice bout, you two. But, both of you can still get stronger. You as well, Hinata-chan," he says, walking towards the students. "Okay, tomorrow, let's get down to business and you'll continue with tree-climbing. If you manage to master that tomorrow, I'll teach you a new move. We won't be working on any jutsu until you get this technique down, do all of you understand?"

All three students nod and he dismisses them. Kakashi disappears in a poof, and the three students wander out of the training grounds.

Naruto keeps glancing at Sasuke before he looks away and asks, "Why are you being so nice to me? You were such an ass in the academy… What changed?"

Sasuke glances on either side of him to notice that not only Naruto, but Hinata was also interested in his answer. He sighs and says, "What changed is that we're a team now and we have to support each other. We're genin and what happened back in the academy, whatever that may be, is unimportant. So, as long as we're a team, I'll help you."

Naruto blinks in shock before he grins. "Wow, thanks Sasuke! You…you have no idea what that m-means," he chokes out and looks away. He can feel his eyes filling with tears. 'No one…no one's ever been there for me…'

Sasuke frowns at Naruto's strange behavior. Hinata gently pats Naruto's arm to get his attention and he turns to look at her. She blinks in shock at the tears in his eyes. She looks away before she looks back, mumbling, "You…n-never had any friends or p-people who c-cared about you…d-d-did you?"

Naruto blinks and quietly asks, "You noticed?" She nods and glances at Sasuke, who nods as well. He smiles sheepishly. "I'm sorry, guys. Is it okay if I don't tell you the reason? It's kinda personal and it's not that I don't trust you, it's just that I don't think I know you enough. I was hoping that I'd get to tell you once we've become really great friends! Because that's what I want to be with you guys, friends!"

Sasuke chances a glance at Hinata and sees the slightly hurt look in her eyes but she smiles through it and says, "I want to be friends, also, Naruto-kun."

They both turn to Sasuke who say, "Hn. I don't see anything wrong with it." Naruto grins and Hinata smiles softly. The trio continues walking out of the training field until they reach the place where Naruto has to separate from the group. Sasuke frowns and makes a mental note that the direction Naruto was heading was, to be blunt, the slums of Konoha.

After walking for a few more moments in silence with Hinata, she quietly asks, "Does N-Naruto-kun live a-alone?"

'There it is again! Naruto-KUN!' "Hn…probably," Sasuke mutters, looking down at her. "Why?"

She fiddles with the sleeves of her jacket before muttering, "W-well, I just t-t-think that would b-b-be rather l-l-lonely." Sasuke blinks before looking away. Yes, it is lonely, and he knows exactly how it feels. "Y-you live alone, too?" Without thinking, Sasuke nods and Hinata's eyes soften. "You t-two should be f-friends. N-neither you n-nor Naruto-kun w-would be lonely a-anymore."

Sasuke frowns. Why would he want to be friends with the Dobe? That's just plain preposterous. "Hn, being friends doesn't make you less lonely. You'd still have to go home to an empty house."

Hinata stays silent for a minute. "T-then why don't y-you move in t-together?" Sasuke stares at her in disgust. "AS FRIENDS!" she shouts, clarifying. "A-as friends…y-you could be r-r-roommates…"

Sasuke snorts. "Maybe if he was less of a slob…" Hinata looks down-cast before sighing. Sasuke pauses and looks at her. "But…" he mutters, causing Hinata to look at him, "I could _try_ being friends with him. I don't see how it could hurt…"

He glances down at Hinata's brightened expression. He almost allows a small smile to creep up onto his face before he looks back in front of him. He frowns once more, 'Why am I so inclined to see her smile or happy?'

He glowers slightly to himself before looking down at his feet. "I-I'll see you t-t-tomorrow, S-Sasuke-san," she smiles before walking away. Sasuke nods and watches her leave before walking down the road to his house.

His thoughts begin to stray towards the Hyuuga heiress and he shakes his head. 'No, I need to think about something else.' His mind drifts to next Friday. He smirks. 'I'm totally going to kick their asses! Hinata would surely want to spend time with me after that!' He pauses and scowls. 'Damn, I shouldn't want to be the best for her! I…I need to to kill my brother! Not to make a girl notice how much I love her.'

He pauses and his eyes widen and a blush covers his face. 'D-did I just admit that I l-love her? And did I just mentally stutter!' He grabs his hair in a panic and runs through the last part of the street to his compound in fear. Once he reaches the compound, Sasuke runs quickly to his house, confusion gripping his heart. 'What the hell is going on with me?'

He groans and slams his front door closed behind him. He leans up against the door and slowly slides down it before panting and looking around in confusion. He groans again and hides his head in between his knees.

"Do I love her?" he quietly whispers in question. He scowls at the absurdity of that question. "No. I don't love her, I can't." He shakes his head solemnly. He sighs and adds, "I can't…I'm not meant to love…"

* * *

Hinata gently closes the front door to her family mansion with a smile. 'I get to show everyone my strength next week…' She looks down at her hand with a small frown. 'I'm trembling…but not with fear…' a grin breaks out on her face, '…with excitement!' She takes off her shoes and sets them neatly to the side.

She turns around and the grin slides off her face at her father's normal disappointed expression. She cringes and shrinks down in shame. She can't help it. Thanks to years of disappointing the man, she can't help but fear him and be ashamed of everything she does because he has made her believe that nothing she does is good enough. "G-good evening, T-Tou-san," she mumbles, fidgeting quietly under her piercing stare.

The man grunts before abruptly turning around and walking out of the hallway. Hinata's shoulders slump and she miserably walks to her bedroom, depressed by her father's lack of change in behavior. She was finally a shinobi, yet he hasn't acknowledged her, it's as though he doesn't even care about her.

She sits down on her bed and looks at the picture of her new team, a light smile taking over her face. Her eyes land on Sasuke. 'At least S-Sasuke-san notices me. A-and he's really k-kind too.' She gets up, walks over, and picks up the picture. She stares intently down at it. 'Sasuke-san truly cares about me, although he doesn't seem like he wants to admit it.'

She carefully sets the picture back down before walking back to her bed. She lies down under the covers and just before she falls asleep, she realizes that not once since she's come home had she thought about Naruto. 'I thought I l-loved him…' She closes her eyes. 'Maybe…t-that's not t-true anymore…why?' She turns to her side and opens her eyes once more. She looks at the picture sitting on her desk and her eyes go straight to Sasuke. 'Sasuke…k-kun…'

* * *

Naruto opens his apartment door and he can't help but grinning. What Hinata and Sasuke had said to him earlier was still buzzing in his head. He closes the door and grins, jumping up and down slightly, his excitement overwhelming. He takes a deep breath and tries to calm down. He takes off his shoes and starts walking into his house.

He smiles again and looks up at the picture sitting on his bedside. 'I finally have friends! Well, of course, I had friends in the academy, but never _real_ friends; their parents would take me away as soon as they saw me.' He jumps onto his bed and stares up at the ceiling. 'Now I can finally prove to the village that I _am_ trustworthy, that I _can_ love and cherish people, and that I'm _not_ a monster.'

He turns onto his side and stares out his glass doors leading to his balcony. "Next Friday, that's the day everyone will know the true power of Uzumaki Naruto!"

He falls asleep with a grin on his face.

* * *

Kiba throws open the gate to his house in a grumble. 'Damn that teacher, we didn't get _any_ training done! He just gave us a lecture and sent us on our way…screw him! I'm going to get up early and start training! I'm not letting Uchiha be the best this time! Especially not since Ino will be—' "HOLY SHIT!" he shouts, covering his mouth shortly after.

Akamaru jumps slightly and looks up at his master in confusion. Kiba looks down at his dog. He crouches down and pets him on the head. "I can't believe I almost thought that," he murmurs under his breath. He shakes his head and stands up.

"Okay, Akamaru, are you ready to brave through mom's dinner?" Akamaru whimpers slightly and Kiba gulps. 'I hope this doesn't give me food poisoning tonight…I don't have time to get my stomach pumped…'

He walks up the steps and enters his home. He takes off his shoes, not wanting his mother to yell at him again before walking into the kitchen. Instead of his nostrils being assaulted by toxic waste, a heavenly scent wafts lightly through the air. He looks around and spots Hana, his sister, cooking on the stove.

He blinks in surprise and exchanges a glance with Akamaru before walking up to his sister. "Nee-chan, where's Kaa-san?" Hana looks down at him before muttering something about a flee outbreak in the kennel and to not send Akamaru there tonight. Kiba nods and glances down at the pan. "D-do you want some help?" Yes, even his sister scares him at times; he can't even help the tiny stutter at the beginning of his sentence.

Hana raises an eyebrow before smiling at him. "Sure, could you get some noodles out of the cupboard?"

* * *

Ino looks into the mirror of her bathroom, fixing her long hair for bed. She giggles once she finishes. She smiles fondly and remembers what Iruka had said about a training session with Sasuke. 'I can almost see his face when he finally realizes how strong I've become!' She leaves her bathroom and skips out the door.

She walks down the hall to her bedroom. She closes the door and stares out her open window into the night. "Next Friday: the day I will win over Sasuke's heart!" She squeals happily.

"Ino! Go to bed!" her dad calls from down the hall. She pouts and walks to her bed.

* * *

Shikamaru yawns and stretches out. Shikaku pauses and waits for his son to relax before asking, "Are you sure you don't want to stop and finish this game tomorrow?"

Shikamaru shakes his head. "I was the one who offered the game of Shogi, there's no way I'm going to back out now," he mumbles, moving one of his pieces.

Shikaku sighs, "If you must…" He moves another of his pieces before cracking his neck. "I've heard about your rookie training session next Friday. It's kind of been spreading around the village. I'm afraid that we'll have to put up ANBU to tell the villagers to keep away. It's so troublesome…"

Shikamaru sighs. "Why can't those damn civilians keep to their lives? Why do they find the shinobi world so fascinating? It's truly troublesome at times."

"Yup," Shikaku says with a nod.

* * *

Sakura struts up to her bedroom. She sighs dreamily. 'Finally…it's _my_ time to shine! I'll be the strongest and Sasuke-kun will fall head over heels in love with me; not that he isn't already.' He giggles happily before walking into her bedroom.

Sakura walks up to her picture of Sasuke that she had taken when following him home in the bushes one night in the academy. She kisses it before turning away and walking towards her bed.

* * *

Shino sits on his bed reading through his family scrolls…wow…that's not very interesting…

Damn, why can't he just do something crazy like jumping up and dancing around the room in Spanish garb, shaking maracas? Wouldn't that be something you'd want to see? God…why are you such a bore, Shino?

Anyway, since we aren't getting anywhere since he's still reading those scrolls, let's get moving on…to Chouji!

* * *

Chouji's reaction is one you would expect from him: he's sitting at his dining room table, stuffing his face with chips.

* * *

**Okay, you said you wanted longer chapters, there you go! I can't promise that they'll all be this long, but they'll be longer than what they were…**

**-MosukeHinata**


	8. Why We Train

**Title: New Teams**

**Summary: What would happen if the teams for the Konoha nine were different? Will Sasuke want to leave the village if Hinata was there? Will Sakura, Chouji, and Shino be able to work together? Will Ino and Shikamaru work well with Kiba?**

**Pairings: SasuHina, KibaIno**

**Warnings: May be OOC at times**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto.**

**Sorry about not updating in forever; GOD, I HATE HIGH SCHOOL! But anyway, I'm doing a MASS UPDATE! And I was rereading some of my stories and thought: Oh dear lord, **_**I**_** wrote that? For shame… So, I put a poll on my profile about which stories I should rewrite. I won't be offended.**

**And as a note for that, I won't be changing much – usually just adding more description and showing foreshadowing and such. I won't be changing the pairings or the major plot points, but I may tweak a few small things, nothing major though.**

**Now, onto the story! Enjoy!**

**Chapter Eight – Why We Train**

* * *

Sasuke wakes up the next morning and, apparently, his mind has it out for him because the first thing he thinks about is…Hyuuga Hinata. Sasuke scowls and throws off his covers. 'No, she _can't_ be the first thing I think about!' He sighs and holds his head in his hands. "Kami," he murmurs in desperate confusion, "what the hell is happening to me?"

He groans and gets off his bed, heading towards the bathroom to get ready for the day.

Once he's done, he walks down the stairs to his kitchen to grab some onigiri for the road. He stops and shakes his head to clear his thoughts. 'Okay, we're going to master tree-climbing today and then Kakashi will teach us something new. That's something to look forward to, right?'

'_But then again, you'll be seeing Hinata again,_' the voice in the back of his head says in a singsong voice.

Sasuke blinks before groaning, extremely tempted to slam his head against the nearest wall, thinking 'Since when did I have a voice in my head!'

'_Always, but we seemed to agree, so there was nothing for me to say,_' it says.

Sasuke growls and ignore the voice as he walks to the fridge, grabbing his onigiri before walking to the front door, wondering if he's going insane.

* * *

At the Hyuuga residence, Hinata moans quietly in displeasure as she gets up. 'Damn sun,' she thinks with a glare. No, she is _not_ a morning person. She stretches and looks over at her desk, to her team picture. A soft smile plays on her lips as she thinks about the upcoming day. 'Sasuke-kun, what mission are we doing today?'

She starts heading to her bedroom door but stops when she realizes exactly what she had just thought. 'Whoa…why did I just address Sasuke-kun only? And when did I start calling him 'Sasuke-kun'?' After a miniscule mental freak-out, Hinata calms herself down and attempts to get her thoughts in order, 'Okay: Missions with team, become a great Shinobi, then make father proud. Missions with team, become a great Shinobi, then make father proud. Missions with team, make father proud, become a great shinobi, and win Sasuke's heart—' "Whoa, wait, what?" she asks in confusion. 'Did I _seriously_ just add that to my thoughts?'

She groans as she walks into her bathroom. She lays her head down on the counter. 'That tears it: I've fallen for Sasuke, and I've fallen hard.'

* * *

Naruto opens his eyes and yawns. He stares at the ceiling before he grins. 'Time to start our second day training! We'll master this tree-climbing and then we'll go onto the next technique!'

He jumps out of the bed and scurries into his bathroom. "Let's get this training done quick! The faster I do it, the faster I become Hokage!"

He's grinning happily as he walks out of his apartment.

* * *

Kakashi sits at his dining table, staring into the distance. The council had told him to train Sasuke and Hinata as much as he could, yet keep Naruto ignorant. They don't want Naruto to become a powerful ninja because they'd be afraid they wouldn't be able to control him.

Control him… They speak about him like he's some creature. He's not! He's a goddamn human being! Kakashi had long since realized this. Since the very first day he met the boy that he wasn't what people said about him. He just wants acknowledgement.

Kakashi's blank stare turns into a glare. Screw the council, he's not ignoring Naruto. He's going to bring his _entire_ team up to the top!

He gets up and walks out of his apartment.

* * *

Naruto, surprisingly, was the first one to the training ground. The sun hasn't even come up yet. He grins and pulls out a kunai. He moves back to the tree he had been using yesterday. He glances at the other two trees with a slight frown. Both Hinata and Sasuke were higher than him. He clenches the kunai tightly. 'I don't want to be the weakest one on this team! I'm just going to have to train harder!'

With renewed determination, Naruto charges up at the tree.

A few hours later, Kakashi, Sasuke, and Hinata all reach the training field at the same time. They blink and stare at each other for a few seconds before heading in. Kakashi was about to wonder where Naruto was when they hear a thud and a moan.

The three shinobi look up to see Naruto lying on the ground, holding his head. The boy in bright orange pants and stands up. He glares at the tree. He was so close to the others now! He'll have one more go and he'd be tied with them!

Ignoring his exhaustion, Naruto charges at the tree again. Kakashi watches the boy's determination in awe and nostalgia. His determination… it was so much like his father's. 'Minato,' Kakashi thinks, 'your son is just like you…'

Sasuke watches Naruto in a mix of shock and confusion. What was the dobe doing here so early? Why was he trying so hard?

Hinata has a light blush on her cheeks as she watches Naruto finally catch up to the two. His footing falters and he slashes at the tree before jumping down.

He looks up at the trees and grins. He turns around and blinks in shock. "Oh? I didn't realize you guys came in, 'tebayo! Sorry, I just wanted to catch up to you guys. I didn't want to fall behind, dattebayo."

Sasuke blinks. "So you're willing to come in hours early just so that you won't fall behind?" He wanted to scoff. That was insane!

Naruto nods seriously. He looks down sadly. "I want to be an asset to the team, not a drawback."

Sasuke blinks. 'He just wants to belong? He doesn't want to impress Hinata-chan?' He pauses in his thoughts. 'Maybe I'll give him a chance, as long as he stays away from her!'

Hinata smiles at the orange clad ninja. "Y-you're not a d-d-drawback, Naruto-kun." This time, since Sasuke was standing in front of her, she notices his wince. She frowns slightly. What was wrong with Sasuke-san?

She looks back at Naruto when he happily says, "Thanks Hinata!"

Kakashi suddenly clears his throat. "Okay," he says, looking Naruto over. "I think we should start on a mission and maybe take the long way to the Hokage tower."

"Aw," Naruto whines, "But why the long way, Sensei?"

"Because you look exhausted and most likely would not agree to take a break," he reasons. Naruto sighs, knowing his sensei was correct.

"B-but," he still tries to argue. "I'm _fine_! Nothing can bring the Great Uzumaki Naruto down, 'tebayo!" Even though the words were cocky, they didn't hold the same arrogance in them. It was as though he was trying to convince himself of that.

Sasuke was frowning. Did Naruto not believe in himself? That's not possible! In the academy – He was interrupted by that same voice again, _'In the academy he wore a mask as well, but he was too beneath our radar to notice it.'_

Sasuke inwardly scowls. So the Dobe wasn't really who he thought he was? 'So what makes him on our radar now?'

'_He's our teammate and when we go on missions outside the village, he's going to be an asset. We can't have him lacking in self-confidence but we can't have him get a swelled head either. There needs to be balance.'_

Sasuke mentally frowns. 'Quit acting like some monk!' He then focuses on the present where Naruto was sighing in resignation. Kakashi must have somehow convinced him.

Nearly half an hour later, they were walking into the mission room and looking at Iruka, who smiled pleasantly at them. "Hello, Kakashi-san, but didn't you say you wouldn't be taking any missions today?"

"Maa," Kakashi says, rubbing the back of his head. "Change of plans," he answers simply. "Just a simple D-rank should be fine. We'll be back in a few minutes anyway."

Iruka smiles at the team. "Sure," he says and holds out a scroll for Naruto to take. "Catch Tora," he says before waving them out.

He doesn't notice Kakashi's exasperated look. This most certainly was _not_ a relaxing mission! Oh well, you get what you get.

Once outside the Hokage Tower, Naruto opens the scroll and reads it aloud.

After he finished, Sasuke stares at him. "So…" he says for clarification. "We just have to catch some stupid cat?" How is that a mission?

Naruto glances over the scroll again and frowns. "I guess so," he says sadly. "Why can't we get anything good?" He turns on Kakashi. "Oi, can we get something actually _good_ for the next mission?"

"You're genin, green genin at that," Kakashi tries to reason. For some reason, he had a feeling that he would be caving for these genin soon enough.

Naruto, instead of arguing with Kakashi, just turns around and they start out looking for the cat.

* * *

It took a little under half an hour. Apparently, Sasuke was good with cats. This had shocked Naruto to the core because he was _horrid_ with animals. Sasuke had a light blush on his face and murmured, "The Uchiha sometimes used cats as our summons. I guess you could say that working with cats is in my blood." He had been embarrassed that Hinata found out about this, but she was just smiling at him.

That had become the fastest time for finding Tora that the mission givers had ever seen.

So when team seven returned half an hour after receiving the mission, they were too shell shocked that they missed Naruto's request. When they had shaken themselves from their dazes, they blanched at the irritated look on Naruto's face. "Oi!" he shouted. "Did you not _hear_ me? I asked for a better mission!"

Iruka frowns. "But you're still rookie genin!"

"Yes, but have any of the other rookies completed as many missions as us? No! So why not just give us a real mission?"

Iruka was starting to get irritated but before he could argue, the Sandaime, who was looking amused, says, "I think we should give them a chance. Why not give them something simple like a transport mission."

Iruka sighs and nods. "Here," he hands the scroll to Kakashi. At this time, a different chuunin scampers off to get their client. "You'll be guarding a bridge builder on his way to his home country, Wave."

"These are the big bad ninja supposed to protect me? They're not ninja! Just children! And look at that shrimp…" a man grumbles, obviously intoxicated.

Naruto, about to laugh at said "shrimp" glances around him and frowns. Sasuke and Hinata were both taller than him. His eye twitches. "I'll kill you!" he shouts angrily. Kakashi grabs the back of his jacket.

"No, Naruto," he says. "It's not good to kill you client."

The old drunk snorts. "It's not like he could kill me; I'm a super bridge builder!"

Naruto glares at him with tears slightly lining his eyes, to which Sasuke and Hinata frown. Why was Naruto on the verge of tears?

"Alright," Kakashi says, "Meet at the gate in twenty minutes, alright?"

His team nods and they leave the room. Sasuke and Hinata stay with Naruto and when the three of them are alone, Sasuke asks, "Why were you going to cry at what that bastard said?"

Naruto tenses and sheepishly asks, "You two saw that, tebayo?" Both his teammates nod and Naruto chews his lip. "Well, as you probably know or have guessed, by life isn't really the best," he mumbles. "For a reason I'm still not ready to say, the villagers hate me and treat me like shit.

"There are times when I get thrown into an alley and beaten. Every time I try to buy things from any store other than Ichiraku Ramen, I'm sold the most the most rotten food for the highest prices. They've even taken to saving rotten food to sell me. I haven't really eaten a true meal… ever… I guess my height was stunted…" he trails off, feeling ashamed.

Sasuke, noticing that, says, "That's not something to be ashamed of, Naruto!"

"Y-yeah," Hinata says. "The v-villagers have n-no right to do t-that!" She was thoroughly pissed at the villagers. "W-we'll put a stop to t-this, Naruto!" she says angrily.

Sasuke nods, glancing at Hinata for approval by instinct. Mentally frowning, he had a sinking feeling that he truly meant the nod, that he truly wanted to help Naruto. Why would he be thinking that? He's not friends with the Dobe!

But… is that really true?

* * *

**Okay, I **_**know**_** the Wave arc came later, but I just wanted it to be **_**before**_** the training thing. This is all part of the plot! So just assume everything in Wave happened a few weeks earlier so that Tazuna would be in Konoha at this time, okay?**

**Yes! Sasuke is finally seeing his friendship with Naruto! Woot!**

**Also, something I noticed when rereading the manga… Tazuna uses 'super' a lot…**

**-MosukeHinata**


	9. Mission Start!

**Title: New Teams**

**Summary: What would happen if the teams for the Konoha nine were different? Will Sasuke want to leave the village if Hinata was there? Will Sakura, Chouji, and Shino be able to work together? Will Ino and Shikamaru work well with Kiba?**

**Pairings: SasuHina, KibaIno**

**Warnings: May be OOC at times**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto.**

**Chapter Nine – Mission Start!**

* * *

Nearly an hour after the predetermined time, Kakashi finally makes his appearance at the village gate. "Can we go now?!" Naruto shouts, his eyes narrowed in annoyance.

"Ah, sorry," says the sensei flippantly, "There was an old woman who lost her cat and had all these groceries. I—"

"We don't want to hear it," Sasuke says in a dull tone. He wasn't facing his sensei; he was staring through the open gates out of Konoha. He doesn't want to hear excuses. He just wants to get out of the village. His brother was somewhere out there. Sasuke's fists clench.

Hinata was eyeing Sasuke. He's been acting rather strange lately and it was worrying her. "S-Sasuke-san, are you okay?"

Snapping out of his stupor, Sasuke looks over at Hinata. "I'm fine," he says tersely.

"Let's go!" Naruto suddenly shouts excitedly as the gates open. He throws his fists up in glee, an erratic grin plastered on his face.

"What are you so excited about?" the man, now mostly sober, asks.

"I've never left the village before," Naruto notifies his team while looking around in barely contained excitement.

The man grimaces at Naruto's fidgeting and looks over at Kakashi. "Hey!" he shouts, pointing at Naruto. "Am I really going to be safe with this brat?"

Naruto glares at the man. 'This geezer is the worst possible client. I wish I could punch him in the face!'

"Now, now, Tazuna," Kakashi says in a placating manner. "I am a jounin; don't worry."

"Hey old man! Don't mess with ninjas!" shouts Naruto with a glare. Sasuke sighs silently and Hinata fidgets worriedly. It wouldn't be good if Naruto angers their client enough to make the man not want to cooperate. "I'm going to be incredible!" Naruto continued. "One day I will become the super elite Hokage! My name is Uzumaki Naruto! Remember it!"

Tazuna whips out another bottle and Sasuke grimaces. He was not looking forward to walking with a drunkard. There was a reason he rarely roamed the streets of Konoha after dark. "Hokage is the village's best ninja right?" the old man asks, looking down his nose at Naruto. He snorts. "I doubt someone like you could become it…"

Naruto clenches his fists and his arms began shaking. "SHUT UP!" he yelled, trying to rein in his anger. "I am prepared to do anything to become Hokage! Once I become Hokage you will acknowledge me!"

Hinata's eyes widen. Sasuke raises an eyebrow. Kakashi just sighs, looking out to the road. Why couldn't they have just started on their mission already?

"No I won't, you brat…" Tazuna says, taking a swig. "…even if you did become Hokage."

Naruto growls and takes a threatening step forward.

"Don't fight," Hinata whispers and Sasuke silently agrees. If Naruto insists on fighting the man, they could do it once they were far enough away from the village to not have to abandon the mission.

Before Naruto could do something more stupid, Sasuke steps forward and puts a hand on his shoulder. "Stop that. Prove it to him through actions not words. Now let's just get going."

Naruto relaxes a bit, but he still looked annoyed. "Fine," he grumbles.

Kakashi sighs in relief and leads the team out of the village.

Sasuke glances back at Hinata and nearly smiles at seeing her approving look. The walk was fairly quiet so far. That was until Naruto almost walks into a puddle. Sasuke and Kakashi were both immediately on edge. Hinata was looking at it curiously. It hadn't rained in a long time, so why was there a puddle of water?

A loud splash sounds after they had passed the puddle and Kakashi was suddenly wrapped in chains. "What?" shouts Tazuna in drunken shock.

"One down," the man from the pool whispers ominously as he and his brother pull the chain and split Kakashi into pieces.

"Ka… Kakashi-sensei!" Naruto shouts in horror.

"Two down," the same man whispers from behind Naruto. Naruto spins around and jumps back as Sasuke jumps up and pins the chain to a tree with a shiruken and kunai. He lands with one foot on each of their outstretched arms.

Thankfully, he distracts them enough for Hinata to come in unnoticed and use her Juuken on their arms.

Suddenly, the men grab the metal arm plates attached to the chain and Naruto shouts, "LOOK OUT!" He jumps forward and pushes Sasuke and Hinata away just as the two men break free. All three were up on their feet in an instant as the two strange ninja rounded on Tazuna. "No you don't!" shouts Naruto. "Kage Bunshin no jutsu!"

Four clones appear out of nowhere and charge the men. Two pounce on one man while the other two jump on the other. "Get off!" they grunts in irritation, easily dispersing the clones. It gives the three genin enough time to get in between the men and Tazuna.

The men growl, "This is getting irritating! Stupid brats!" They jump up to try and end this quickly when they are suddenly grabbed.

"Kakashi-sensei!" says Hinata in relief. Sasuke pouts a bit at knowing the fight was over.

Naruto looks over to where Kakashi had last been seen. 'Kawarimi?' he thinks, mentally kicking himself.

Tazuna just breathes a sigh of relief, glad he was saved.

Kakashi throws the men against a tree and ties them secure. "Now, Tazuna-san," he says in a threatening tone.

"What is it?" the man asks warily.

"Just what are you playing at?" Kakashi asks, frowning at him. "These two look like Hidden Mist Chuunin… they're known for continuing to fight no matter what."

"How could have possibly read our movements?" one of them growls out. He wasn't just looking at Kakashi.

"There's not going to be a puddle on a sunny day such as today when there hasn't been any rain for days." Sasuke and Hinata nod slightly and Naruto feels like hitting himself. Why hadn't he noticed that?

"Why'd you let the brats fight them then?" Tazuna asks, somewhat fearing for his life.

"I had to find out who these two were after," Kakashi says, glaring at Tazuna. "And that was you…" Tazuna suddenly looks very nervous. "The mission didn't state that shinobi were after you… these genin were to protect you from mere thugs or thieves. Otherwise, this has now become at the very least a B-rank mission."

"You just didn't want to pay for a higher ranking mission, did you?" Sasuke asks, somewhat irritated, thinking Kakashi would send them back to the village.

"O-or you c-couldn't pay," Hinata supplies quietly. "W-what if a d-different team had gotten this m-mission? W-what if someone d-died? What if w-w-we die?"

Naruto pales somewhat and Sasuke clenches his fists in determination. 'I won't let her die!' Sasuke thinks, looking at Hinata.

Kakashi sighs, debating what to do now. If they went back now, a proper team would be sent on this mission, but his students wouldn't get the experience. If they didn't go back, the mission could fail and one or more of his students could die. And they could all possibly see their first death… aside from Sasuke. What to do…

Kakashi turns and looks at each of his students individually. Naruto and Hinata are both slightly frightened, but look to have resolved to go on. Sasuke is glaring at him with determined eyes.

Sighing, Kakashi turns to Tazuna. "We'll continue," he says slowly, "as long as you explain yourself."

"Fair enough," Tazuna grumbles. He sighs and says, "You're right. This job is most likely outside of your duties. It turns out that a super dangerous man is after my life."

"Super dangerous man?" Naruto asks, wondering who would try to kill this old man.

"Who?" demands Kakashi.

"You've probably at least heard his name before," says Tazuna with a sigh. "The wealthy shipping magnate… a man named Gatou."

Kakashi and Hinata stare at him in shock. "Huh?! Gatou…" Kakashi says. "…from that Gatou Company?"

"H-he's one of the w-world's few extremely wealthy p-people," Hinata says quietly and slightly nervously. Her eyes flick to Sasuke. He was another, seeing as he got all the Uchiha assets. Being extremely paranoid, each Uchiha left a long list of recipients in their wills, but at the bottom read, 'Should any of the previously mentioned names be unable to take my assets, they all are to go to the remaining Uchiha clan members.' Since Sasuke's older brother fled the village, he couldn't hold claim to anything, making Sasuke the sole recipient of all Uchiha belongings.

"Officially, he runs a large shipping company," Tazuna says gravely. "But, secretly, he sells drugs and other illegal items using ninja and gang members to take over businesses and countries. He's a very nasty man. About a year ago, he set his sights on the Wave Country. Through money and quite a bit of violence, he quickly took control of the country's shipping industry. He has a monopoly on all business traffic in the country. The only thing he has to fear is the completion of the bridge."

"Y-you're in the w-way," Hinata whispers in realization.

"So, those ninja were hired by Gatou?" Sasuke asks curiously.

"What?" Naruto asks quietly.

"If Tazuna-san were to finish his bridge, the people of Wave would have another way to transport goods besides using Gatou's company," Kakashi quickly explains to his student. "But, what I don't understand is… if you know ninja could be after you, why did you hide that fact when you hired us?"

Tazuna takes on a frustrated look. "The Wave Country is super poor. Even the feudal lord has no money. So, of course, we don't have much money either… not nearly enough for the expensive B-rank mission." An insane glint appears in his eyes. "If you quit the mission now, I will definitely be killed. But, don't worry about it!" he shouts. "If I die, my cute ten year-old grandson will just cry for a few days! Oh yeah, and my daughter will live a sad life hating Konoha ninja forever. But, it won't be your fault. Not at all!"

Sasuke's eyebrow twitches. 'He's trying to make us feel bad!'

'He's leaving us with no choice,' Hinata thinks, put out.

"Well, we will protect you at least until you get back to your country," Kakashi says with a sigh.

None of them speak for another little while after that. It isn't until they were riding in a boat that anyone decides to speak.

The guide warns them they should see the bridge soon, even through all the mist.

"WOW! It's huge!" Naruto shouts in awe.

"Hey you!" the guide whispers harshly. "Be quiet! Why do you think we are hiding in the mist and not using the engine? We'll be in deep trouble if Gatou finds us…"

Naruto sheepishly covers his mouth.

"We'll be there soon," Tazuna whispers.

Soon, they arrive at a small dock and get out of the boat.

Walking along the path, Naruto suddenly flings a couple shuriken into a bush. It lands just above a white rabbit's head. The bunny looks utterly terrified. Sasuke and Kakashi tense upon seeing the rabbit.

"Oh… just a rabbit," Tazuna says happily.

Naruto, feeling bad, runs up and hugs the animal, apologizing profusely.

"W-why is it w-white?" Hinata whispers suddenly.

Sasuke looks around. "Because it's not supposed to be here…"

Naruto stops and looks around. "I was right?" he whispers and stands up, suddenly determined. Someone had to be watching them.

"Everyone, GET DOWN!" shouts Kakashi, hitting the ground. Naruto pushes Tazuna down just as Sasuke leads Hinata down with him. When they look up, a man in cowhide leggings and arm warmers was standing on the hilt of an enormous blade lodged in a tree.

"Well, well, well," Kakashi says lazily. "If it isn't the Kirigakure's missing-nin Momochi Zabuza…"

* * *

**I'm really sorry about not updating in forever… I kinda switched fandoms and got caught up. Now, I'm getting back into the swing of things… I hope. And, recently, I lost my flashdrive with all my stories, so… I'm trying to see what I could remember from what I already had written. Again, I'm really sorry! And hopefully this marks the start of the resurrection of MosukeHinata!**

**-MosukeHinata**


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